How about a chat for your job search?

Quick post this week...but a really important one for those of you looking to get a little more social in your job search.  The topic, what’s Twitter chat?  Well, a Twitter chat is basically when a group of people get together and use a hashtag to have a conversation via Twitter.  Sound crazy?  Well, it’s not....it’s probably the single best way to network with new, social people today.

Here’s what you do:

1) Get comfortable on Twitter - Don’t tweet much!  Find people in your industry, follow them, and engage.  No one cares if you are watching TV or doing something mindless.....find folks talking about something you find interesting.  Trust me, they are out there.  Search for #jobs or something like that #java, #coffee...whatever, and you’ll be surprised.

2)  Watch a few chats happen - There are a bunch I’d recommend for job seekers, specifically #TChat, #InternPro and #JobHuntChat which are all HR related..lots of great people there, just follow the hashtag and watch the conversation.

3)  Tweet!! - Ok, you knew this was coming right?  After watching a chat or two....start participating.  You don’t have to do much.  Send a few RT’s?  Answer a few questions?  That’s it, start engaging in the community.

4) Network - Many of these chats (InternPro specifically) encourage networking at the end of the chat so people can take conversations offline and help each other off.  So, enjoy the chat and then at the end make a few new connections.

5) Turn your Tweeps into real relationships - This is the key tip.  These online relationships are great but converting them into real connections makes all the difference.  At the end of the day, all these newfangled social tools are great...but the same old networking rules that I preach about constantly apply....

What are you waiting for?  If you’re looking for a new social way to juice up your job search....find a few chats on Twitter and get going.

Hope to see you in a chat online soon!